African Pygmy Hedgehog

Names & Nicknames: African pygmy hedgehog, Four-toed hedgehog, white-bellied hedgehog

Size: At around 21cm in length and 250-600g in weight, they're like an artisanal loaf of bread, just more prickly! The ladies tend to be a little larger than the lads.

Smell: African pygmy hedgehogs themselves don’t have much of an odour. However, if one comes across a particularly potent smell, it might do something called ‘self-annointing’ (how regal)! It will combine the smelly substances with foamy saliva and spread it over its spines, which may be a defence mechanism, as they'll also do this with poisonous secretions, such as those from poisonous toads.

Communication: These hedgehogs communicate mainly through sounds and body language. When threatened, they may roll up into a ball to protect their soft bellies, and you're left with a prickly ball that you (or a predator) don't want to mess with. They can also be pretty chatty, snorting or hissing when they're agitated, twittering when they feel safe, or even full-on screaming when they are really distressed. Relatable.

Favourite Hangout: African pygmy hedgehogs aren't fans of damp, tending to avoid swamplands and moist forests in preference to lovely dry grasslands, woods, and rocky areas. As their name cleverly points out, they are found in Africa, Central, Central Western, and East Africa, to be precise!

Favourite Snack: Despite their cute appearance, this lot are voracious little predators. They mostly snack on invertebrates such as insects, scorpions, snails, and spiders, with the occasional bit of plant matter mixed in. However, when they're feeling extra feisty, they can even take on small vertebrates, including venomous snakes, as they're kept safe by a naturally high tolerance to toxins.

Eating Habits: African pygmy hedgehogs are nocturnal, meaning they're most active at night. Although they can climb trees and even swim, they tend to stay on the ground floor, sometimes covering miles in a single night on their ravenous hunt for food.

Toilet Humour: African pygmy hedgehog poop glistens and sparkles as it is packed full of undigested bits of insects. Bling bling.

Love Language: It all starts with a song. Females search for a mate with a whining noise, and males serenade females with squeaks and twitters. The male will follow the female around, potentially for days, and the female may not be immediately receptive, potentially butting, hissing at, and running away from the male. After potential hours of back and forth, the female may give in and allow the persistent male to mount her from behind and use his... uhhh... exceptionally long equipment to get the job done whilst keeping his softer underside away from her spines.

If you see them: African pygmy hedgehogs are solitary (they prefer to kick it by themselves) and can be quite shy, so if you see one, try not to startle it. You really don’t want to hear them scream!

Red Flags: African pygmy hedgehogs are currently considered of least concern, but they are still threatened by climate change, habitat loss, road traffic, disease, and the pet trade. Despite their cute appearance, this species of hedgehog is really not well suited to a captive life, and they can often struggle with obesity, malnutrition, stress, and a host of other health issues when kept as pets.

Epic Journeys: Part of the reason African pygmy hedgehogs don’t do so well trapped in a small cage (see red flags) is that they are very active and are used to lots of exercise. They don’t migrate as such but can roam for miles in a single night, looking for tasty snacks.

Glow-up: After a gestation period of around 35 days, a litter of typically three to four pups are born. Baby hedgehogs are called hoglets (adorbs) and are born with soft white spines that slowly darken and sharpen over the next few days. They grow up fast, reaching their adult size after around 2 months.

Facts: African pygmy hedgehogs, like most hedgehogs, are lactose intolerant!

Who are they in the friendship group: A little prickly and very hungry.